Infrastructure

For a long time now we have run a national private computer network, based predominantly on Optus Frame Relay and ATM with some Telstra On Ramp, mainly for redundancy. The network topology has been based on a “hub and spoke” model where Head Office, which hosts the data centre and provides our only gateway into the Internet, is the central hub, the branch offices are secondary hubs and the pro...

The surge in use of electronic mail in many organisations is an ongoing management concern. Managers consistently tell me they receive well in excess of 100 emails a day, all of which have to be read, contents absorbed and in some cases a response developed. The problem is compounded in organisations that handle business transactions and correspondence by email as the audit trail can become ...

Linux has its place(s) in the SME organisation now, and clear evidence for reduced cost can be demonstrated. However, in more complex environments, the costs of commodity hardware and operating systems are small compared to the costs of ISV software and support and the use of Linux will be harder to warrant before 2005. Linux and other open source software offerings need to be evaluated rig...

The Enterprise Architect faces three major unrelated challenges today. They are to: Keep the architecture or standards viable when the technology options are changing continuously Sustain Executive commitment to the standards when the benefits are not immediately apparent Stay informed of technology developments and advocate its adoption in advance of it proving to be a �...

The distributed nature of our business, and the centralised model for IT, dictates that we will constantly face the challenge of providing adequate bandwidth to projects in remote areas to enable them to effectively utilise the appropriate corporate systems run in the data centre, utilise email and connect to the Internet. Some sites are so remote that telecommunications infrastructure is a distan...

While the intense competition in the PC market has benefited technology buyers in the form of lower capital costs, it has forced vendors into tighter product cycles and a frantic pace of incremental technological advancements with high-perceived but little real value to users. Corporate technology buyers of both desktop and laptop systems should focus efforts on achieving within their PC fle...

IM represents a new tool for business communication and collaboration – additional to the traditional forms of communication, particularly e-mail and voice. Paradoxically, IM is the personal communication of the impersonal digital world, and as such it requires its own unique set of corporate IM guidelines.

Server consolidation has become widespread as budget pressure is maintained and corporate mergers and reorganisations continue. Although the overwhelming majority of consolidation projects are viewed as successful (at least in terms of the reduction in number of servers) when failures occur it is usually because of poor planning. Vendor endorsed programs often appear very attractive, but unl...